


Hunger

by absbartlet



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-22 06:56:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7424557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/absbartlet/pseuds/absbartlet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>CJ likes goldfish crackers. CJ likes cupcakes. CJ likes Margaret Hooper.<br/>[food content warning]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hunger

Margaret inhaled, her chest and shoulders raising a few inches. 'There is no reason to be nervous. No reason to be nervous,' she repeated in her thoughts. She poked her head through the half-open door and smiled at CJ, who sat typing away on her computer. It must've been important, Margarer assumed, the way she was biting her lip in concentration. 

“Is it alright if I interrupt for a moment?” Margaret asked quietly.

CJ stopped typing midsentence and turned her chair to face the door. “Yeah? Come in.”

“I made something, I think you might like it.” She set a paper bag on CJ’s cluttered desk, then pulled out a small bowl made of torn pieces of various cereal boxes all glued yogether. “I saw this in a magazine I read at the dentist, thought I'd try it. The inside is sturdy, see.” She held it out for CJ to see, and feel, the solid inner part of the bowl.

“This is... quite something, Margaret... are you sure Leo doesn't want it?” CJ chuckled at the thought of another one of Margaret's crafts sitting in Leo's office. Margaret was known for trying many projects, then giving then away, mostly to Leo, who then gave them to Donna. “Does this gift have anything to do with my staying late to help you sort emails last night? I told you I didn't mind, anything to distract me from my research on the timeline of a duck's life. Did you read anything in those waiting room magazines about how to stop Danny Concannon from asking ridiculous questions?” CJ sighed, her long fingers brushed back her bangs in frustration.

“I didn't. Oh! There was an article on sea turtles and why they make great pets... I think I'd like to get one. Maybe he'd be friends with Gail.” Margaret pointed to the fish bowl on CJ’s desk. “I could probably even build them some sort of water-apartment.”

CJ nodded, then went back to typing notes on her computer.

Margaret sighed. “I still want you to have this bowl.” 

“Are you sure Donna doesn't want it?”

“I am, you're just the only one who really appreciates Captain Crunch. I remember that. His torn cardboard face should be on your desk, not Donna's.”

“What am I going to do with a bowl?” CJ mumbled, her eyes still scanning the document on the computer screen.

“You could-”

“Oh,” CJ whispered and looked up at Margaret. “Did you actually make this for me? Me, in particular?”

Margaret glanced around the room, relieved to see the clock on the office wall had given her a way out. She put the bowl back into the bag. “I have to go. The Mess stops serving breakfast at 10:30.”

CJ began to apologize for being unappreciative, but Margaret had already left, leaving her alone with thoughts of the unavoidable pesky questions she was preparing to receive from Danny Concannon that afternoon.

Just after 3, CJ returned to her office, dropping her folder onto the desk. 

Margaret’s bowl sat beside the computer, filled to the top with goldfish crackers. There was a note written on a star-shaped post-it note sitting on top of the crackers. CJ’s cheeks turned hot, a feeling that was followed by a smile.

Bowls prevent hunger. So do bakeries. I'm hungry. Let's go to a bakery sometime. -Margaret

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know if you'd like an update and I'll do my best to make the time to write one! Thanks so much for reading!


End file.
